Der Blogger

"Enough is enough!" "This can't go on!" "This has to stop!" These were among the comments that came through the blizzard of commentary after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County. We have heard these words before.

Wanderlust

As a travel destination, Germany has never been more popular. With tourist numbers forecast to rise for an eighth consecutive year, what is the country doing right to account for its thriving visitor numbers?

Akademia

For education experts, English language lessons have proven valuable in primary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. But the Alternative for Germany’s state parliamentary group in NRW have a rather different view.

Essen & Trinken

Police in the city of Osnabrück had to clear crowds in front of a new döner kebab shop on Tuesday, after about 150 hungry people packed the street outside, eager to get their hands on a döner for only €0.01.

Germericana

Many Americans have German ancestors — and that's also the case for actress Meghan Markle, who will be marrying Prince Harry, himself a descendant of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a German dynasty.

Bulldozer cuts up giant swastika found under a sports field

“Of course, in the social media from worldwide, people said we had to leave it, it’s a historical monument. But for us, it’s not,” Drossmann told As It Happens host Carol Off.

“We don’t have to keep a four-times-four metre big swastika to be remembered of our history.”

The jews of Hamburg, he said, also wanted it gone.

“Most of the non-whites and jews in Hamburg said: Throw it away, put it away, destroy it. Where are the jackhammers?”

So on Friday, after clearing the plan with conservation authorities, that’s exactly what the city did.

At noon local time, a team of workers cracked open the ancient symbol with jackhammers and tore it apart with a bulldozer.

“Now it’s gone,” Drossmann said. “It’s just another page in the history books.”

The Nazi symbol, which was unearthed beneath the Hein-Klink sports field in the city’s Billstedt district, was actually the foundation for a monument celebrating the strength of German workers that was torn down decades ago, the mayor said.

It was built 72 years ago as part of a government make-work program, and the swastika was originally covered in bricks, he said.

“In 1945, they destroyed the swastika, the brick swastika, but they left the foundation of the swastika underneath the earth. They just put some dirt over it,” he said. “Then everybody forgot it after a few years.”

Kultur

The German term "Heimat," often translated as "homeland," was long thought of as tacky, regressive, and even politically dubious. But since the election, German politicians across the spectrum are using it once again.

Das Kino

This month's Berlin film festival, Europe's first major cinema showcase in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, will shine a light on sexual misconduct in the industry, its director said on Tuesday.

Gesundheit

In the run-up to international World Cancer Day on Sunday, experts have said that about half of all cancer cases in Germany could be prevented by a healthier lifestyle. Across the country, around 500,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. But experts say things like exercise could cut this figure in half. “Movement can […]